DeFuniak Springs Florida

Happy Valentines Day everyone.....

Our drive yesterday from Live Oaks to DeFuniak Springs was nice, sunny skies and good roads.

The Sunset King RV Park that we are now in is very nice and has all the amenities we are used to.

Here is the coach amongst the others.


The park sits on quite a large lake and there are big boats parked but we can wee lots of tree trunks so wonder how they navigate. There is a lot of fishing happening.


This morning we went into DeFuniak Springs to look around we spent a good time in the Little Big Store that was an old fashioned general store and had absolutely everything. The elderly fellow running the store told us all about the spring and the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood, so we had some things to see. I wish I could show you an aerial of the springs, it is a perfect circle and surrounded by beautiful heritage homes and the Hall.

This was just a nice church on the lake.

This was the Hall of Brotherhood and was built as a retreat for improving religious education. It has a room that holds 4000 people and they say was used for many venues.


The lake or spring as it has no rivers or streams running into it was beautiful

Yet another sign of spring, some new babies.

A couple of the homes around the lake.

Many of the oak trees around the park had the yellow ribbons.

The Watson County Courthouse.

Very warm today and is supposed to get warmer.

A day out

Yesterday we had a day out with a drive up into Georgia, the weather was cool but mostly clear.

First stop was Jasper Florida where I wanted to see one of the oldest correction buildings in the county. The Old Jail was build in the late 1800's.

Onward up into Georgia where we kept seeing signs for Big Rosies so had to stop, the pecans were overpriced in comparison of what we get in Arizona but we bought Orange Blossom Honey, now does that sound good.

In Georgia we visited two cities, Valdosta and Thomas ville, we toured the old historic areas to see some of the old homes that have so much class.

Here are a couple friends from Canada.

The old homes are so beautiful to see, you can imagine how wonderful it must have been to have lived in one way back then.

In Thomasville they have a very old Live Oak tree, it was amazing. The sign on the road warned that overhead was 9' as it hung out right over the road.

More signs of spring

Ron and the truck look very little standing by the big oak.

On our way home we went through Monticello Florida, had a nice day out.

This next picture is the little lake in the park, we never seem to get up there at night to see the water fowl all lit up.

The trees around the lake have such funny bases and roots, very interesting.

So tomorrow we move 200 miles west to DeFuniak Springs which still is in Florida but we will be about 15 miles south of the Alabama border so will do some poking around in Alabama.

Ichetucknee Springs and Olustee Battlefield

Now haven't I been telling you spring was coming, look what I saw today.
On our way to Ichetucknee Springs on a backroad I found a bunch of Hyacinths, they were so lovely.


In White Springs I saw a couple Magnolia trees in bloom


And also in White Springs a beautiful rose tree.


So our plan today was to visit Ichetucknee Springs State Park, which has a few natural springs that are always at 72 degrees so at certain times of the year it is very popular.
This is the trail to the Blue Hole Springs.


The Blue Hole.


And this little otter came out to give us a show.

The water is actually so beautifully clear it was amazing.

Very popular for canoes and tubes.

We thought these little elves in the woods were so cute, they are everywhere.

Next it was off to the Olustee Battlefield, this was one of Florida's biggest civil war battles and one of the deadliest in all of the war, some 3000 people were killed in 24 hours with only 10000 people fighting, so almost 1/3 died

It was a very lovely day, the temp was great, sun was shining and the countryside was lovely.

Overnight it rained again and so I am staying home this morning to clean house while Ron goes to do some shopping. Have a good day everyone.

Stephen Foster and Okefenokee Swamp

Yesterday we had rain and lots of it, so we went into Live Oaks, which turned out to be a little bigger than we thought and had every amenity.
Today the sky was back shining, it was not hot but great for a car ride, so we set off for two destinations.
First stop was the Stephen Foster State Memorial, now Stephen Foster was the writer of the Florida State song, he also wrote, Oh Susanna, Way Down Upon the Swannee River and many more. He never lived or even visited the area but is still very famous here.
The park was a big surprise and we enjoyed it alot, when we arrived the clock tower was just ringing to the tune of Way Down Upon the Swannee River.
Here is a picture of the outside of the museum, inside was very well done, something to see that is for sure.

Here is the clock tower that was ringing, they have one of the biggest bell collections but not in the shape of bells but tubes.

After our visit here we headed up to the Okefenokee State Wildlife Preserve.

The water is very low but was still something to see

Lovely colored water isn't it.

On the swamp Island Drive there were lots of trees with a beautiful undergrowth.


Our first walk was just under half a mile into the Chesser Homestead.

They had it very will preserved.

The second walk was a little longer but all along this boardwalk and at the end a tower that looked out into the swamp.

Overlooking some of the swamp

All in all a very nice day, supposed to be warmer tomorrow, hurrah

Live Oaks, Florida

The FMCA rally at Brooksville ended last night, we had a good time, learned lots and bought new gadgets to play with.
This morning after we had the coach weighed we headed north up through Ocala and on to northern Florida. About 20 miles south of the Georgia border we turned west, quite a feeling after all this time to actually be heading toward home.
However we actually only went 15 miles west and have stopped in Live Oaks, which is right on the Suwanee River and will spend a week here looking around.
Our rv park is in the trees so there is no Canadian TV as the satelitte dish could only find trees but they have cable so we get to watch the Superbowl.

After lunch we went for a long walk around the park as it is quite big.
A little cardinal came out to greet us.

There was a little beach area down by the river, note the river is quite dark, almost the color of dark tea. They say it is from the leaves that fall into the river and rot giving off a tannic acid but the water itself is some of the most unpolluted in the eastern US.

There is a lot of the spanish moss in the trees here, it would be very errie at night.

I took this close up of the moss so you could see what it looked like.

Can you see the rope swing hanging in the tree, there were actually quite a few of them along the path along the river, a great place for a swim if the weather was nicer.



Along the roadside coming north today we saw spring coming, the grasses are really getting green, the trees are starting to bud out and there are yellow and purple flowers growing along

the edge of the road. Spring sounds like a wonderful thing but the pictures from home look a little snowy yet.

Too many to count

Yes, there are just to many to count and they just kept coming.

The west runway alone where we are parked is at least one mile long and it is full two to three deep the full length of the runway

They are not only parked on the runways but out in the fields as well.

The amount of money sitting out here has to be unbelievable.

Hard to see in the next picture but that is a constant row of coaches in the background.

This little section is set aside from the rest as it is the full generator area for those that have to have their generators running more than most.

Here was a block of little born free coaches.

This is the east runway, not as many over here but as you can see they are coming in.

The rally actually starts tomorrow and everyone has been so friendly.